Last Piece
by Alan Spencer
Summary: A teenage boy gets dropped into Fuyuki City, just as the Fifth Holy Grail War is about to properly begin. He seeks the help of Ilyasviel Von Einzbern.
1. Chapter I

**Last Piece**

 **Chapter I**

I was cold and sore and it hurt a little. Grunting, I opened my eyes and beheld the night sky. I almost stopped breathing. I was outside, in a simple white shirt and black jeans instead of my pyjamas, in some stinky, dark alley. I wasn't supposed to be in this place, I wasn't supposed to be anywhere but on my own home, in my own bed.

I searched my memory, but there was nothing. Nothing that would have led me to this situation. I distinctly remembered going to sleep last night. I didn't like alcohol, and, besides, I was a minor-not like that stopped a lot of people, but well- so I couldn't really see myself getting drunk of my ass and ending up passing up in some alley. This… this just didn't make any sense. Which meant, this had to be a dream.

But, aside for the question of why the fuck could I dream about something like this, I knew this couldn't be a dream. Is just… I didn't feel like a dream. Everything felt too real. The cold night wind, my vision, the hard concrete I had my back against and my body itself. The soreness, the coldness and the slight pain. All those sensations and feelings and such didn't belong in a dream. And also, I was thinking straight. I had gone 'wow this is a dream' and I hadn't woke up immediately. It was crazy, unthinkable, but… I didn't think this was a dream.

Of course. Of course it was. This couldn't be real.

Smiling, probably like an idiot, I let out a breath. Right. What I had be thinking? I closed my eyes. In the distance, I could heard the sound of cars crossing the street. I could hear the whipping of the wind, the buzzing of insects, and I could still feel myself and the world around me. No biggie. That didn't meant anything. I opened my eyes again.

The night sky was still there.

With my erratic breathing pounding in my ears, nearly as loudly as my heartbeat, I tried to calm myself down. It was fine, it was fine, it was fine. This didn't look like a dream, didn't feel like a dream and I had be unable to wake up, but that didn't meant shit, in the end. A lucid dream. This had to be a lucid dream. I repeated that to myself, over and over, and the doubts returned just as many times. I took a deep breath.

I tried to stand up. I felt weak. Uh, well, weaker that usual. Like somebody had beat the shit out of me, like somebody had beat me so hard that I wasn't even feeling it anymore. I had to grab on to the wall of the alley to steady myself. I walked out of the alley, lightly trembling and took a look around.

This, definitively, wasn't my city. I was unsure of where the fuck I was, exactly, but this wasn't my city. That much was clear. I started walking on a random direction, not really sure of what to think, what do to do. Perhaps… perhaps, I was feeling cold because I left the window opened before going to sleep. Wouldn't be the first time. As for the soreness, well, I probably ended up in a bad sleeping position by tossing and turning. Wouldn't be the first time, either. That would explain the noises of the cars, too.

I kept walking. From nowhere to nowhere. When turning the corner, I bumped into somebody a few heads taller that me. I shook my head, looked up at him. The boy was a redhead with clear, golden eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't worry." his voice was strangely familiar. Yes. Strangely. It wasn't like I ever heard him before. He looked at me, up and down. "What are you doing at this hour? Hurry back home. Is not safe."

"Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm doing."

I watched him walk away, until he turned the corner and disappeared from my vision. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Everything had happened so suddenly I didn't even had time to think about it, but now that I could think back on it, I realized I had be speaking in Japanese. Perfect Japanese. And I didn't even know a bit of Japanese. Moreover, I knew that boy. I had spoke in Japanese with Emiya Shirou.

I laughed. I laughed softly, to myself, as if afraid somebody could overhead. Like I could laugh these feelings away. But there was no use in fooling myself. This was no a dream. I had know that since I woke up, but I merely refused to believe it. And that boy had been Emiya Shirou. There was no mistake about it. He had the distinct voice of his voice actor, Sugimiya Noriaki. Then, that meant this was Fuyuki City. That meant this was the Nasuverse.

A sudden dizziness assaulted me. I grab into what I had closest to me, a wall, bend down and puked. It hurt, it burned. My nausea continued even beyond the point where I had nothing more to throw up. I didn't know for how long I was there, feeling absolutely miserable, but it sure felt like an eternity. With tears streaming down my face, I got back up.

This was reality, and I had no way to escape it. But I knew things, a lot of things. And with that, maybe I could survive. So I started thinking of what to do now. I propably wouldn't last long in this town by myself. There were too many people who didn't give a shit about causalities and, besides, knowing what I know, I was sure this would end badly, sooner or later, if I didn't have somebody to depend on.

Tohsaka Rin was clearly my best choice. That girl tried to conduct herself with a cold heartedness befitting of a magus, but she wasn't like that. She wouldn't get rid of me at first glance, and she would kept me around as a way of repaying me for giving me the information she needed. Of course, there was Archer around. He would surely try to kill me eventually. While I don't like danger, she still was my best bet.

But, still… is going to sound silly, but my thoughts very soon strayed away from those people. All I could think about was her. Ilya. That white haired girl with red eyes, shackled with an unavoidable fate. I was here. This was real. I couldn't ignore her, and pretend like I couldn't have done nothing.

 _You're strong, Berserker._

Yeah. There were a lot of characters who had be dealt bad hands in life, but Ilya had one of the worst.

I remembered it. That scene. Ilya's sacrifice, as Shirou desperately called her name. Her calm voice. Her resolve. And, most of all, her final smile. That single scene had touched me in a way no other work of fiction had. I had cried. For real. I had practically bawled. I had be made into such a mess that I could only barely read the words on the screen by the end of it. Her death in Unlimited Blade Works had also made me felt horrible, but that scene. It just had something else.

I knew it was dangerous. While Tohsaka couldn't protect me from everything, at least she wouldn't hurt me. With Ilya things weren't as certain. But even so, I wanted to help her. And while that wasn't rational at all, while it was very dangerous to try with her, I had to admit that if I secured myself her protection then I would definitively survive the Holy Grail War.

My life was already over. The person I hadbeen didn't exist anymore, metaphorically and literally. I didn't like pain. I didn't like danger. But the safest choice isn't always the best choice. Maybe I would regret it, later on. Maybe I will fail miserably and end up as another corpse, one more number amongst the causalities. Maybe. But if that didn't happen...

I took a deep breath, and headed for the Einzbern Forest.

* * *

I didn't have any money. I couldn't ride on a taxi or anything, so I walked the whole way through. When I finally got to the forest, my body was already burning. I have never be in shape, and so suddenly walking so much hurt like a bitch. I was panting and wheezing, for real. I took a moment to allow myself to catch my breath.

Once I felt like I was alive again, I nervously eyed the darkness of the forest, illuminated only by the clear moonlight. Encountering an animal or something wasn't what worried me, of course. The chance that the maids- I couldn't remember their names, now, even though I really should- would catch me off guard and kill me for trespassing without even leaving me a chance to make my case was all to real. I wondered if it wasn't too late already to run away and go to Tohsaka, regardless of my stupid bleeding heart. I could still help her even if I allied with Tohsaka, so it wasn't like I was abandoning her.

Gathering what little courage I had, I entered the forest. Slowly, carefully. As if the floor was made of lava.

"Ilya… I meant, Ilyasviel." I squeaked out as I advanced. My heartbeat was unbearably loud. "Please don't kill me. I know things you need to know. Things like the identity of the Servant at the top of the hill, and, well, the rest of the Servant's including the one who as not be summoned yet. Also, about… about other things that you really need to know. So don't kill me. Please."

I was babbling. I knew I was babbling, but I couldn't not stop. The crouch of the ground underfoot, the creaking branches. Every sound in this forest seemed as loud as a gunshot. The still darkness all around me was suffocating.

"P-proof of what I'm saying, that I'm just not blowing hot air…you want that, of course. Well, I know... I know things about you that very few people should know, and other things that nobody but you could have know. You were made to summon Berserker earlier… two months earlier that you should have. And you were abandoned in the winter forest, full of angry beasts and other things, as a form of vengeance, in a sense, because Emiya Kiritsugu betrayed the Einzbern's. But well, they wanted you to learn and learn quickly. By putting you in a training that was more like torture. You resented Berserker, Heracles, for being ugly and cursed his very existence.

But you came to like him, depend on him. At that time, surrounded by hungry beasts, Berserker was attacked and since he was unable to move without an order from you, he just stood there as the beasts bit off pieces of his neck, head and limbs and you screamed. Not for you sake, but his. You endured the pain until he finished off those beasts. With a ragged white dress, barefooted, covered in your own blood, you reached for him, touched the hand of the giant and you said 'You're strong, Berserker'."

Silence. There was no change. No change at all. A voice inside my head was screaming at me to run, but I kept walking. I just mindlessly kept walking, fearing I would die but incapable of turning away. It felt almost like a nightmare. Like one of those nightmares where you head to some dark place, and you know there's a monster in there, that your life would be over, and your body trembles with terror but you kept walking and walking towards it as if your mind was detached from your body.

I walked. I walked from a long time. I walked as fast as I could. It was four hours before I found myself in front of the castle. When I approached, the wooden door opened, creaking all the way. Ilya stood there, unmoving, watching me. I really can't go back now. That was what passed through my mind when I first saw her. I stopped in front of her, my legs shaking like they were made of jelly.

"Come inside," she said, right before I had be about to drop to my knees and beg her to not kill me. "Before I change my mind."

I shallowed. Then, I followed her inside.


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

Ilya turned away from me, and headed towards some place else. I didn't know where. But I didn't care, either. I just meekly followed her. There was a part of me that didn't believe what was happening, even now. Walking through this castle, right behind her, behind Ilya, only made this all the more surreal. Even after everything, a part of me still thought this had to be a dream.

The maids… Sella and Leysritt. That's right, those were their names. I couldn't remember which was which yet, but at least that was a start. Anyway. They were at the top of the stairs, and when we reached it they each moved to stand right behind Ilya, as if I could do anything to hurt her. If I tried anything, she would just crush me like she was breaking paper. Maybe, even if I didn't try anything.

She leaded me to her room. The maids stayed at the door, looking at me with those empty, cold red eyes. They each had the same posture, too. It was… unsettling, and not just because I knew that they were killing machines. Well, Leysritt was, anyway. It didn't really get across at all with anime art, but right here, right now, in the flesh, anybody could tell at a glance that they weren't human. They… they just weren't right. The way they moved, looked, talked. I couldn't really explain, but, they didn't act like humans. It made me even more terrified that I was already.

Which, come to think of it, could be a big part of why I found them so unsettling.

"Sella, go make us some tea." Ilya said. Then one of them went away. The one with the maid uniform with purple colours, instead of black. Well. I at least had a way to identify them now. The one who remained right where she was had to be Leysritt. "Now, you," she said, turning towards me. Her tone was light and pleasant, but I didn't have any illusions as to how things stood. "Sit down."

Like a good boy, I sat down. Ilya sat in the chair in front of me. I noted that her legs couldn't even reach the floor. That made me wince. Her tragic back story was what had made her into an interesting and multifaceted character, but now, she was as real as me. So all I could think about was that I had a girl in front of me who had be robbed of her childhood, and her very life.

"What's with that sour look?" Ilya said, cupping her face with one hand. I avoided looking at her directly in the eyes, of course. Not like that would do me any good if things turned badly. "You should have thought things through, if you're regretting coming here."

"No, I'm not regretting it. Is just..." I bit my lip. Would she think of my feelings as condescending?

"What." she demanded.

"N-nothing."

"I asked you a question. Answer me."

"Is just..." I looked away. "I thought that is so unfair."

"What, exactly?"

"The life you had to live, and have to live."

There. I said it. But there was no response. After a few seconds, I allowed myself to look back at her. She was looking at me… uncertainly. As if she didn't know what to think of me anymore. We spend the short wait in silence. Sella came back, and put two cups of tea down in the table. I wasn't a tea sort of person, but I wasn't about to refuse it. I took a tentative sip of it. It was… quite good, actually. I could get used to this.

"How do you know those things?" Ilya asked, suddenly changing the subject. "Don't think you can lie to me. I'm asking you nicely, so I expect you to tell me truth like a good boy. Or I make you answer me."

"I, uh, well..." my mind was blank, as if had be poured out like water. I felt like an idiot for not even thinking of some kind of excuse while I was walking through that forest. "Because of the Kaleidoscope. I'm from a universe where this, the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War, is a work of fiction and, well. I'm a big fan of it."

"Uh..." she didn't even bat an eyelash. "You don't seem to be lying, so I will accept it. For now. Want do you want with me?"

"Help. I just… I'm just a normal human. I can't survive here by myself, so I just… I will give you everything I know about the War, in exchange for you letting me staying here while this is going on… Please?"

"If you know as much as you say you know about me, then what makes you think I will just accept your request?" that cold smile almost made jump out of the chair. "I can just force you to talk, kill you and dump you somewhere." she said, like it was nothing, in that same light tone of hers. It chilled me to the bone. "You either don't exist in this world or your alternate self does. Either way, nobody will miss you."

I look down.

"Is not… Is not just the information. Fourth of the seven masters are at Fuyuki's High School. I can get into the school with a bit of help, so I could kept track of them. Make things easier for you."

"Berserker is the strongest Servant. I don't need any help, let alone from a normal human."

"...No, he isn't."

"Explain."

"There's a single Servant stronger that him. Heracles could overcome him, maybe, but… his chances aren't that good. That Servant is not one of the ones in this war, but a leftover from the previous one."

I was revealing too many things. If she tried to kill Kirei, she would only get involved in a battle that she would definitively lose. But what else could I do?

"Did the Master kept it here, or was it incarnated?"

"He was incarnated, but he's still with his previous Master because he amuses him. The true name of that Servant is Gilgamesh. He was the Servant of Tohsaka Tokiomi, but he was more interested in the Master that Tokiomi had an alliance with. So he convinced said Master to indulge in his own twisted pleasures, and that ended up in Kirei Kotomine killing Tokiomi after Kirei lost his own Servant and them joining forces."

"Was it only the Fifth War?"

"W-what?"

"You heard me. And you know well what I meant."

"Y-yes. The events of the Fourth War were also… recorded."

"What happened to Kiritsugu and my mother?"

"Irisviel… what happens to all the Grail Vessels." I wasn't about to tell her that she had be kidnapped and killed by Kirei. Even if warned her about how she had died in the Unlimited Blade Works route, and she send Berserker to the church by himself, I couldn't be sure that even that could be enough to make him win. Gilgamesh was just too strong. "She just couldn't kept her human shape anymore. As for Kiritsugu, he destroyed the Grail because he found that as be contaminated by Angra Mainyu, All Evils Of The World, and could only cause destruction. However, the Grail cursed him. The Fuyuki Fire was produced because of the Grail's destruction, and he managed to rescue a boy from among the fire he himself had caused. Shirou. He spend his last years miserable, haunted by the curses, growing weaker and weaker, nothing more that the sell of a man broken by reality. He tried to get you back many times, but he had be weakened greatly by the curse, he wasn't..."

"Don't lie to me!" Ilya shouted, suddenly standing up.

"Please, I-I'm not lying."

"Look at me." I took a deep breath, and looked at her red eyes. I was entranced in an instant. Under her control, I repeated what happened to Kiritsugu. I added that in the original story, it had only be mentioned by Shirou that Kiritsugu regularly had gone on business trips, but everybody though it was like that and that the prequel had confirmed it. And I continued.

"He wasn't the Magus Killer anymore. He couldn't even fight. He had completely lost the ability to use magecraft, and his body was like that of an old man. His flesh grew weaker and weaker, his limbs had atrophied, and even his sight had begun to fade. So he could only beg Jubstacheit to lower the forest's bounded field. However, no matter how obstinately he repeated his visits, that man refused to let him see you again. He repeated such visits for five years. Then he understood that his efforts had be in vain, and simply let himself wait for his death. It didn't take long. A few weeks, one week, perhaps a few days."

"Stop." she said, looking down. Her long, white hair obscured her eyes.

I stopped. I felt in control of myself again. I had be terrifying, like my mind had be ripped from my body. I looked at her. I could see that tears were shining in the corner of her eyes. I tentatively extended my hand towards her.

"Ilya..."

"Don't call me so familiarly!" she screamed in a broken voice, and pushed me away. Tears were streaming down her face.

I couldn't move. I was too scared to move and just, I didn't know what to do.

"Sella, Leysritt." she said, trying to steady her voice. "Show him to his room. And I meant it. Don't hurt him, don't kill him, don't even threaten him."

I should have be happy because this meant I was safe, as safe as I could be, but I wasn't happy at all. The two maids leaded me out of the room. I looked over my shoulder at Ilya, standing with her head held down, her hands clenched into fists, lightly trembling. I couldn't take my eyes nor my mind off her.


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III**

Surprisingly, the room they showed me to wasn't too far from Ilya's. It was on the other side of the hallway, in fact. It was a luxurious, spacious room. I knew that by Ilya's standards this whole castle was too frugal, but for me this was too much. I sat down on the bed. It was too early for me to sleep, and I surely couldn't have fell asleep even if it was night already, but she understandably wanted time to herself so there was nothing I could do.

I bit my lip. I had to tell her. I knew I had to tell her the truth about Kiritsugu, both for her, so she knew that her father hadn't left her alone because he wanted to, and for me, because this might leave her open to an alliance with Emiya Shirou. But still, I didn't like seeing her like that. It was… it propably sounds stupid, since she has threatened to kill me not too long ago, but it hurt. But… more that she was like this, it hurt that I couldn't do anything.

I looked up when I heard the maids start to go away without a word.

"Sella, Leysritt." I said, feeling a little nervous. They actually stopped and turned back. "Could you… could either of you tell Ilya that I'm sorry?"

They nodded, and went away. I buried my face in my hands for a few moments, then laid down on the far too big bed, staring at the pristine brown ceiling. I was worried about Ilya but, as I said, I couldn't do anything about it. She could and would work through it by herself and, to begin with, she surely didn't want my help. I was just a stranger to her.

So I had to concentrate on my other problems. I had too many, so it was better if I started now, anyway. But soon I realized I couldn't start, not really. I had seen Shirou before. He wouldn't be leisurely strolling about at night during the War, not without Saber by his side, so that meant this was before night of fate would happen. Which meant that the route wasn't decided.

No, wait. Route? What a joke. This was reality. The Visual Novel had fixed outcomes, but that didn't meant shit. I had thought that it was just a matter of determining the route of this universe as early as I could, pray that Shirou didn't trigger any of the bad endings, and try to predict what would follow from whatever bad ending if it ended up happening anyway. But things weren't so simple.

In the Visual Novel, Shirou couldn't die unless the player made a bad choice. But here, in reality, in those moments Shirou was supposed to survive he could die as well. I could predict things to an extend based in that I know these people really well, and what they would do and wouldn't do, but the scope of the possibilities… it was too big for it to be comfortable.

"Well. Shit." Perhaps I spoke to try to erase my nervousness, perhaps just on a whim. I didn't know.

I had put myself into something far beyond me, far beyond anything I knew or would ever know. And it was too late to turn back now. No matter how uncertainty the future was, the only certain thing if I had gone by myself would have be my eventual, earlier dead. So I had to suck up my nervousness and hesitation.

Tomorrow. I could think about this more tomorrow, when I could actually determine how things stood.

The only thing I had left to do was try to sleep, so I tried.

* * *

I didn't sleep. I just, I couldn't sleep. Too many things had happened in too little time, not leaving me even time to think and consider my situation, fully take in what it meant. This wasn't my world. I wouldn't never go back anymore. I wouldn't never see my mother and my father anymore.

I couldn't stop thinking about that. That my mother or father would go wake me up in the morning, and none of them would find anything, and they would spend years and years vainly hoping that I would turn up, some way, someday, unsure if I was dead or alive. It hurt. It hurt so much, I thought my heart might break right there and there.

At some point, after what felt like hours, I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

My sleep was thin, but at least I didn't have any nightmares. When I woke up, for one single, perfect moment, I almost believed that the last few hours had be only a crazy dream and I was in my house again, in my bed. I even ignored feeling somebody shaking me, thinking that it was my mother and that I had simply sleep in. Then I opened my eyes. I saw Sella and Leysritt at my bedside, watching me with their empty, red eyes. It wasn't unexpected, not really. But it still hurt.

It was morning. Not sure at what hour, since there was no clock in the room. I sat up. I had sleep, but I didn't really feel rested. I would have liked to spend the rest on the day in bed. Unfortunately, I had things to do. I looked at the two maids, which were simply waiting patiently for me to wake myself up. I hastily wiped my eyes with the back of my hands, then looked back at them. They didn't say anything.

"Uh... How is she?" I asked.

The maids shared a look.

"Better." Leys… no, Sella. Sella said that.

"Okay. So, uh." I got out of the bed. "Let's go?"

I followed them outside the room, and into Ilya's room. She was there, sitting by the window and looking outside with an empty expression. She turned her head towards us when she heard the door open. The maids stood there, and I went to take a seat in yesterday's desk. I maintained eye contact with, despite that a tiny part of me thought that it was a fucking stupid idea. That part of me got overridden by the biggest part, the one that thought that it didn't matter even if it was a bad idea, because if she wanted to do anything to me there was fuck all I could do to stop it.

"Tell me about the Masters and their Servants." she said.

And so I told her their names and what they could and couldn't do. Also, I told her about Bazett, Kirei killing her and taking Lancer for him, the orphans in the basement of the churn used as fodder for Gilgamesh, Zouken's plans and so and so on. I also gave her a breakdown of the three routes, including what bad endings I could remember and were actually relevant.

It took a couple of hours, all it all. She stopped me a couple of times to ask me more specific questions, but she had been otherwise silent and unmoving. Only her expression really changed. After I finished talking, she didn't give a response. She just drank the tea, then put it back down on the table. Her expression was pensive. I didn't say anything.

"You can go now." Ilya finally said. "Wander around the castle, if you wish, but don't even try to leave."

"...Are you all right? I meant, yesterday you… I'm still worried."

"Shut up. You care because you're lost, scared and alone and need somebody to protect you, and I care because I need your information. That's how things stand. I don't like pretensions, so you can drop it right now."

"I'm not pretending. I care about you."

"I'm not okay." she said, after a small pause. "Of course I'm not okay. You know me, right? Then you should know that what gave me the strength to pull myself out that hell was my bitterness and hatred. I endured the pain, and used Berserker to crush the obstacles in my way, because I had a reason to live. I had to kill the man who had abandoned me. And when he died, my hatred shifted to the boy he had adopted. The one who I had taken father away from me. But he didn't abandon me. He cared about me until the very end, and I can't even blame Shirou for this. And now I just felt… empty."

"So you will kept on fighting for the Grail, even thought you know how it is." I said. It wasn't a question.

"Of course." she let out a bitter little laugh. "I have nothing else. I should at least fulfil the purpose I was born for."

"Ilyasviel... you were born out of love, not for being another cogwheel in the Einzbern's foolish, desperate desire. Please. I know its not much, I know it doesn't compensate for your suffering, for the life those people took away from you, but please, don't forget that."

She just looked away from me.

"Anyway." she said, after a small pause. "I'm going to ensure you become a real person by tomorrow. You go ahead and have fun."

* * *

The next day, Sella drove me to Fuyuki's High School. Leysritt and I were both at the back. It hadn't took Ilya much to forge the necessary documents. Yesterday, Adam Marshall didn't exist, and today he had be in this world his whole life. I hadn't even needed to take an entrance exam, since Ilya had took care of that too.

I was really nervous. Of course I was. Shirou, Rin and Sakura were there, but that didn't change that Kuzuki and Shinji were also there. Shinji was a thrown away villain in the story, but even him was dangerous to somebody like myself, who has not actual way to defend himself. I was aiming to establish an alliance with Shirou, as Ilya desired. That would solve some of my problems, and create even more, but I couldn't even be sure he was still alive.

The car came to a stop. I took a deep breath, and released it.

"Uh, see you later." I said, just to not feel like asshole, and then went to open the door.

"Have a safe trip." both Sella and Leysritt responded.

"...Thank you." It came out more as a question, to be honest, but, in my defence, I was floored that they actually brothered to speak to me on their own accord. I got out of the car, closed the door and watched the car until it turned the corner and disappeared from my sight.

Then, I turned back and headed inside Fuyuki's High School.

* * *

The atmosphere was warm and friendly. I knew Rider's Boundinary Field was there, but I couldn't felt it. Also, I listened, but I didn't heard anybody talking about Shirou disappearing or something. That the school was opened was proof enough that his body hadn't be discovered, but that didn't meant he hadn't died.

Then I saw Sakura in the hallway. Yeah, that was proof enough for me that Shirou was alive and well and where he was supposed to be. She wouldn't have come to school otherwise. Which was good. What was no so good was going to school in a place where I didn't know anybody. Not technically, anyways. It was an odd thing to focus on, but for some reason I was really conscious of that.

All in all, the classes were quite boring. Not that much different that my school, except that the students actually stayed silent while the class was going on. I tested it yesterday, and apparently I could also write in Japanese without a problem even though I didn't have any clue about it. Yeah, so it almost seemed like I fit in. It was a very mundane experience.

Except for Kuzuki's class. I knew he wasn't about to karate chop my head off, not in front of the whole class, but still, it was hard to not be nervous around him. He was a terrifying monster who had handled Saber like she was nothing. Yeah, element of surprise and all, but still, few humans could say they could beat a Servant in combat even with that.

At lunch time, I went out and tried to find the Student Council's room. Shirou should be over there. There was no route in which he stopped coming to school… not this early, anyway. It soon became apparent that I wouldn't find the room by wandering randomly, so I had to ask around. Hopefully I could get time alone with Shirou before the launch period ended. I knocked on the door. Issei opened it.

"… It's Emiya-sempai here?" I asked. Even though I was seeing him, sitting in a chair and eating lunch.

Shirou sat up, left his food right where it was and came to the door.

"What is it?" he said.

"Could we talk in private? I… I need help with something… something serious. Really serious."

"Issei, do you mind?"

"Of course I don't, Emiya." he said, and got out into the hallway. I stepped inside. Shirou closed the door.

I looked at his hand, just to check. And yes, I could see a Command Spell on it. Which made me wonder how he explained that, exactly. Going and getting a tattoo was something out of character for Shirou. Though, that too would be really out of character for Rin, and she didn't make an effort to hide it. I assumed that Command Spells were invisible to those who weren't Masters or something, even though that had zero basis in canon. But it turned out that it wasn't like that.

Maybe.

"So what did you want?" Shirou asked.

"I know about it."

"W-what?"

"The Holy Grail War." I simply said. "I'm not one of the Masters, so don't worry. I'm not a magus, either, so I'm not a threat to you. But I'm under the service of one of the other Masters. She wishes to ally with you in order to minimize causalities."

"Really?" he let out a breath. "That's great."

"Well, then. There's a forest at the outskirts of Fuyuki. In the middle of it there's a castle. We live there. Come if you accept."

"Yeah, sure. I know where it is." Shirou said. "It's kind of big, though. We could easily get lost in there, since we don't know where the castle is exactly."

"You don't need to worry about that. Really. You don't. Is not that easy to get lost there, and you can always be showed the way." after a small pause. "Well, that's all. I leave you to your business. Just one last thing. Your friend, Matou Shinji… he's not the person you think he is."

"What's that supposed to meant? Is he a Master, too?"

"Yes." well, no, but I wasn't about to explain the circumstances behind that. "But I was not referring to that. He's a terrible person, and he I don't meant that he's asshole. He has done worse things. More importantly, he doesn't care. You can chose to believe it or not. But kept that in mind. See you later, Emiya-sempai."

"...See ya."

I went out, feeling like I had got a weight off my chest. I didn't know which route was this, if this reality even vaguely resembled any of the three routes, but the alliance with Shirou brought solutions to quite a few problems. I couldn't be a hundred perfect sure, of course. But still, I felt relieved. I had achieved a small victory.

Now for the next thing. I went to the rooftop and, as I expected, Tohsaka was there. I approached her. Was Archer there with her, or was he recovering at the house? It didn't really matter. I would stick out like a sore thumb to the Counter Guardian, but he would come to learn of me, in time, so the danger was the same. She eyed me for the corner of her eye, but didn't say anything. I looked at her.

"Tohsaka. Matou Shinji's Servant is the one behind the Boundary Field in this school."

She looked to me, her expression shocked for an instant.

"Who are you? How do you know that?"

I didn't answer, of course. I just turned away and ran for the door.

"Hey!"

I didn't listen, either. I ran down the stairs and into the hallway. I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn't in the mood to get manhandled by her, and I wasn't in even less of a mood to get threatened and intimidated by another powerful magus. Just working up the courage to go and tell her was nerve wracking enough.

* * *

The day continued as normal. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to classes after that. I kept sketching plans in my head for potential situations, though as far as how things were going I didn't really have anything concrete. I couldn't concentrate on that, even if I wanted to, so I might well do something slightly productive. That was my whole reason.

After classes were over and I went out, Sella and Leysritt were there again. I got inside the car, awkwardly greeted them, sat down and tied my seatbelt. I dozed off for a bit, woke up again, couldn't sleep anymore and spend the rest of the time staring at the scenery. I only started paying attention when we got near the Einzbern forest.

The sound of something caving in, breaking. Rider's chain spear went through the hood of the car, and tore out of the insides, breaking the engine. But the momentum didn't allow the car to stop there. Without a way to stop, it started spinning, spinning, spinning. There was a loud crash. Leysritt had moved fast to shield me from the crash, but I still felt the impact, and I felt so sick I thought I would throw up right there.

Right behind us, casually holding the chain spear, was Rider. Shinji was not too far behind her, an arrogant smirk on his face, holding the book.


	4. Chapter IV

**Chapter IV**

There were quite a few possible reasons for Shinji's sudden appearance, but I pushed thinking about that aside. That could come once he was dealt with. Leysritt looked at me. I nodded to tell her I was okay. She nodded back, got out of the car and fearlessly faced Rider, wielding her halberd.

I bit my lip. I was worried, but I didn't let it show. As a combat homunculus from the Einzbern family, Leysritt was on a whole other level compared to normal humans. She had incredible, inhuman strength, the same strength as Rider had without her using Monstrous Strength. However, mere strength didn't necessarily meant anything against a Servant. Even against Shinji's Rider.

Speed, precision, range. That was what composed Rider's combat style. She had be easily killed by Kuzuki in Unlimited Blade Works, but still, some part of me was worried that Leysritt couldn't take her on here. That lasted until they clashed. My breath stopped for a moment. It was one thing to read about it, to see it in anime, but this was a battle of two individuals beyond humanity, raging right in front of my eyes. Moreover, these two had never fought each other, so there was that, too.

Rider's chain spear sought Leysritt's neck, forehead, upper arm, collarbone and all her weak points. Leysritt blocked, parried or weaved through all the attacks flawlessly. Unbelievable. It really was unbelievable, but Rider was no losing any ground and no matter how well Leysritt could defend against her attacks, that meant she could only fight a defensive battle. Even if she could somehow turn the tables, the fact of the matter was that Rider wasn't serious yet.

Lancer had said it, too. A battle for Heroic Spirits was a battle between their Noble Phantasms. Rider's eyes weren't Noble Phantasms, but it was still one of her trump cards, so the same thing applied. If Rider foresaw her own defeat, she would just take off that blindfold and end it all right there. No matter how strong, how fast Leysritt was, she couldn't shake off those eyes. Even forewarned, if Rider revealed her mystic eyes that would surely meant her defeat. All of that, of course, supposing Rider wouldn't strike Leysritt down before Berserker could arrive.

In other words. If Berserker didn't come in time, it was over for us.

I crawled out of the car. Sella approached me. There was a small cut on her forehead, but otherwise she didn't look any worse for the wear.

"Let's escape to the castle." she said. I hesitated. Certainly, that would be the best for me, but. Even though Ilya didn't show it, she must have a certain attachment to Sella and Leysritt. She would be hurt if Leysritt was killed, regardless that for all appearances it seemed that she wouldn't care. And. I didn't want to just leave her out of there, fighting and risking her life.

But the only way I could possible stop the fight surely meant pulling things into the most dangerous route. It hurt. It gnawed at me, but I couldn't afford to put things on the path of Heaven's Feel. I would help Sakura, of course. That kind of things couldn't be compared, but she had suffered a lot, and for far too much time. She deserved to be saved just as much as Ilya did. However, that would have to come after the War. If I was even alive by then, of course.

I was about to run.

Then a blood chilling howl echoed in the distance, making my whole body tremble. It was raw, primal roar of an animal. Berserker was approaching. That giant could cover a distance of thirty meters in less that two seconds, and that had been after everything else. At that time, he had be killed, wounded heavily and blackened. But he wasn't now, so I couldn't even guess at his speed.

He would tear through the forest at menacing speeds, and would end Rider and Shinji as if they were made of paper.

Despite myself, I turned back.

"Shinji, give up." I said.

"Ah. That's a funny way to beg for your life. You should put more effort on that."

"No. You're the one who should start begging for your life. Even Rider should have realized that by now, right? Heracles is not a Heroic Spirit she can defeat… especially with somebody like you as her master."

The mad giant's howl echoed, this time closer, much closer. It wouldn't be long before everything ended.

"T-that's a bluff! And anyway, how dare you insult me like that?! I will make you shallow your words before letting Rider kill you."

"As you wish. Then please die."

A few seconds later, the mad giant burst through the threes like they had never be there, in the first place. The rumbling of the ground, the scatterings rocks and dust. Above the fallen, broken tress was Berserker, standing up as if to obscure the heavens, his great axe-sword in his hands. He howled. Even though he was on my side, I still feel a deep sense of irrational terror upon hearing that, and so close to me.

Leysritt got out of the way of the giant, and Rider quickly tried to do just the same. Anybody could clearly understand that it wasn't a battle she could win. She evaded the first swing of the axe- sword. Shinji quickly stepped back, and fell down on the ground. He was clearly absolutely terrified. His body had started to tremble. No wonder. Even my own body was trembling.

This was Heracles.

A great hero protected by a law of immortality, a gift bestowed by the gods, granting him eleven extra lives, so he had to be killed as many times as the tasks he had accomplished. The strongest Servant summoned in this War, and somebody who Gilgamesh had to lower himself to use dirty tricks to defeat him, forcing him to defend his Master and taking on his attacks so Ilya wouldn't be killed.

I was witnessing a legend in the flesh. A real legend. Compared to Berserker, Rider seemed dull and dying like a fading spark. Berserker wouldn't take long to finish her off. She was surviving for now, but she couldn't even put on actual battle, and none of her attacks did anything. Moreover, with Shinji as a Master, and without the magical energy she would have gained from the Bloodfort, I doubted that she could use Bellorophone. This was already over.

Shinji screamed, and started running. I understood what I had to do. I couldn't let an enemy get away. So I ran after him. I… I didn't know what would I do, what I could I do once I caught up to him, but I could leave thinking about that for later. When I had got him. Unnecessary thoughts like that could only serve as distraction. I couldn't afford to be distracted.

I tackled him into the ground. It was easy. He wasn't even looking at me. I doubted he even realized that I had be running after him. The only thing that was filling his head now was terror, and the desperate need to get out of there. On the ground, he turned around. I straddled him, got my hands around his neck and _clenched_.

He had to die. He would go to Kotomine if he got out alive, he would give him Gilgamesh, and everything would be worse for me. For both of us. He had to die right here. I didn't have any reason to felt bad about it. To begin with, this guy didn't deserve to live. He had be raping Sakura for so much time and, as a whole, he was a horrible person. He was broken, beyond fixing. There was no helping it.

I clenched, clenched, clenched. He gagged, struggled for breath and tried to get me out of him. But it was no use. He couldn't even push me out of him. The way he looked… it struck me that this was how a person died. I felt sick. A sudden dizziness. I felt so badly I almost though I could puke my guts out. Just…

 **kill him**

I have to

 **kill him**

There's no reason to not  
 **  
kill him**

So why can't I do it?

Then, I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. Why? Why? I hated him, and he didn't even deserve to live, yet all I could think about is that I would be killing a person. That I would make somebody disappear if I did this. But I had to do it. Ilya wouldn't want somebody who could let her enemies escape due to compassion. Killing, fighting. That's not my role. But now, it is. So I have to kill him.

A hand upon my shoulder. Dimly, I realized the sounds of battle had ended. Leysritt pushed me away, stepped forward over the fallen Shinji and raised her halberd.

"Wait!" I screamed, without thinking.

She didn't wait, of course. She would only listen to Ilya. Shinji's horrified scream was cut cleanly, along with his head. It was so quick, so sudden, so easy, that I could only stare. At the blood. At the head rolling with wide eyes, that snapshot of the terror that had be his last moments. And the blood coating the halberd, falling on the ground. Drip, drip, drip. Like drops of water.

I bent at the waist, put one hand over my mouth and tried to hold it in. It was impossible. I puked. I puked again in the span of not even three full days, crying even harder that I had be crying before. I didn't know how much time I was like that. I only knew that eventually, it stopped.

I stood up on my shaky legs, and I tried to pretend I could put this behind me.


End file.
